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Patients, physicians at Parkland

“A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers.” The words of President John F. Kennedy are as true today as they were 50 years ago. This special commemorative issue of Center Times was prepared in solemn remembrance of a tragic moment in Dallas’ history and in honor of the not only those killed and wounded on Nov. 22, 1963, but also the UT Southwestern doctors, residents, and students who passed through the halls of history on that fateful day.

Their lives were forever changed by what they witnessed firsthand in Trauma Rooms 1 and 2 at Parkland. Like today’s doctors at UT Southwestern and Parkland, they had been trained to focus on the patient before them, drawing on their medical knowledge to provide the highest quality care – be it for a person of lesser means or the President of the United States. For as President Kennedy himself said, “The stories of past courage … can teach, they can offer hope, they can provide inspiration. But they cannot supply courage itself. For this each man must look into his own soul.”

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

(1917 – November 22, 1963)

The 35th President of the United States, suffering from gunshot wounds to the neck and head, arrived at the Parkland emergency room a few minutes after 12:30 p.m. Despite continuous resuscitative efforts in Trauma Room 1, he was declared dead by Dr. William Kemp Clark at 1 p.m.

Doctors from UT Southwestern who attended President Kennedy in 1963 included:

Dr. C. James Carrico

He was the first physician to see the President.Dr. Carrico was 28 years old and a surgical resident at Parkland.

Dr. C. James Carrico (1935-2002) was a graduate of the University of North Texas (then known as North Texas State University). A 1961 graduate of Southwestern Medical School, he was selected to receive the Southwestern Medical Foundation’s annual Ho Din Award, which goes to the top graduating medical student. Dr. Carrico began his academic career at UT Southwestern in 1969, was recruited by Harborview Medical Center in Seattle five years later and then to the University of Washington School of Medicine. He returned to UT Southwestern in 1990 as Professor of Surgery and held the Doris and Bryan Wildenthal Distinguished Chair in Medical Science until his retirement in 2000. Six months before his death he was honored with the establishment of the C. James Carrico, M.D., Distinguished Chair in Surgery for Trauma & Critical Care. That chair is now held by Dr. Joseph Minei, Professor of Surgery at UT Southwestern who is also Medical Director of Trauma Services and Co-Director of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Parkland Memorial Hospital.

Dr. Malcolm O. Perry Assistant Professor of Surgery Southwestern Medical SchoolHe was 34 years old and was certified by the American Board of Surgery in 1963.

Dr. Malcolm O. Perry (1929-2009) was born in Allen and graduated from Plano High School in 1947 before attending UT Austin. He graduated from UT Southwestern Medical School in 1955 and interned at the Letterman Hospital in San Francisco before serving as an Air Force doctor. Dr. Perry completed his residency in general surgery at Parkland Memorial Hospital; served a fellowship in vascular surgery at the University of California, San Francisco; and then returned to UT Southwestern as a faculty member in 1963. Dr. Perry was Chief of Vascular Surgery at New York-Cornell Hospital from 1978 to 1988 before returning to Texas as a Professor of Surgery at Texas Tech University in the early 1990s. He was Professor Emeritus at the University of Texas until his death. The Malcolm O. Perry, M.D. Professorship in Surgery is held by Dr. Fiemu Nwariaku, Associate Dean for Global Health.

Dr. Charles R. Baxter Assistant Professor of Surgery Southwestern Medical School Except for two years away in the Army, the 34-year-old had been at Southwestern and Parkland since 1950. He was certified by the American Board of Surgery in 1963.

Dr. Charles R. Baxter (1930-2005) was born in Paris, Texas, and attended Southwestern Medical School, where he graduated in 1954. He earned an undergraduate degree at UT Austin in 1950 after starting his studies at Paris Junior College at the age of 16. Over the course of his career at UT Southwestern and at Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dr. Baxter became renowned for his leadership in the treatment of burn victims. He was founder and director of the Parkland Burn Center. In conjunction with Ellen Heck, Dr. Baxter established the first tissue bank, which quickly became a source for burn units throughout the country. Dr. Baxter retired from the medical center in 1992 and was honored as a Professor Emeritus of Surgery at UT Southwestern the next year. He stayed active and entered private practice for the care of chronic wounds at his Baxter Wound Center, which he directed until 2000. Dr. Steven Wolf, Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Parkland Burn Center, holds the Golden Charity Guild Charles R. Baxter, M.D., Chair.

Dr. Robert N. McClelland Assistant Professor of Surgery Southwestern Medical School The 34-year-old served with the Air Force in Germany and was certified by the American Board of Surgery in 1963.

Dr. Robert N. McClelland (1929- ), Professor Emeritus of Surgery, was born in Gilmer. A 1954 graduate of UT Medical Branch at Galveston, he completed an internship at the University of Kansas Medical Center and served two years as an Air Force doctor in Germany, followed by a residency in general surgery at Parkland Memorial Hospital. He then completed a one-year internal medicine fellowship in splanchnic hemodynamics with Dr. Fouad Bashour at UT Southwestern. He joined the medical center faculty in 1962 and was the first holder of the Alvin Baldwin Jr. Chair in Surgery, an endowment designated for support of surgical education. In 2009 the Department of Surgery renamed its surgical rotations to honor Dr. McClelland and his longtime colleague, Dr. Royce Laycock, also Professor Emeritus of Surgery.

Dr. Fouad A. Bashour (1924-2003) earned a degree at Lebanon’s University of Beirut School of Medicine and a doctorate at the University of Minnesota before joining the UT Southwestern faculty in 1959. He became a renowned cardiologist, having developed a basic and clinical research program that focused on the cardiovascular system. Dr. Bashour established the Fouad A. and Val Imm Bashour Distinguished Chair in Physiology to help early-career faculty develop innovative research programs and to provide other faculty with opportunities to explore new research areas. The chair is currently held by Dr. James Stull, Professor of Physiology. Dr. Bashour also established the Fouad A. and Val Imm Bashour Fund for Distinguished Lecturers in Physiology, which annually brings a prominent scientist to campus. In 1999 the UT System recognized Dr. Bashour with an Ashbel Smith Professorship. During his career, Dr. Bashour published in more than 200 scientific and medical journals and was listed among 1,000 Leaders of World Influence.

Dr. William Kemp Clark Associate Professor Chairman of the Division of Neurosurgery Southwestern Medical School The 38-year old physician had done research on head injuries and had been at the medical school since 1956.

Dr. William Kemp Clark (1925-2007) first joined the faculty of UT Southwestern in 1956 as Assistant Professor of Surgery. For many years the Dallas native was the only neurosurgeon in the Department of Surgery, and he is largely credited with building the Division of Neurosurgery into pre-eminence as well as establishing the neurosurgery residency program in 1962. Dr. Clark graduated from UT Medical Branch at Galveston and completed his residency in neurological surgery at the Neurological Institute in New York. Following his residency, he returned to Dallas and Southwestern, serving the academic medical center for 34 years until his retirement in 1990. Dr. Clark was in the forefront of treating head trauma and intracranial vascular problems. He developed techniques that are still used today to treat trauma patients in emergency rooms. Dr. Clark also was dedicated to the education of young neurosurgeons, both in the U.S. and abroad. In 1987 an endowed chair to honor Dr. Clark was funded by an anonymous donor. The William Kemp Clark Chair of Neurological Surgery currently is held by Dr. Bruce Mickey, Director of the Annette G. Strauss Center in Neuro-Oncology.

Dr. M.T. "Pepper" Jenkins Professor Chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology Southwestern Medical School The 46-year-old was certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology in 1952. During World War II he served in the Navy as a lieutenant commander.

Dr. M.T. “Pepper” Jenkins (1917-1994) graduated from UT Austin in 1936 and earned his medical degree at the UT Medical Branch at Galveston in 1940. After World War II he arrived at Southwestern Medical School in 1946 to begin his surgical residency. During his first year, he was asked to go to Massachusetts General Hospital to receive training in anesthesiology and then to return to set up the division within the Department of Surgery. He founded the Division of Anesthesiology in 1948 and served as Chief, and then Chairman until 1981, after Anesthesiology became an academic department in 1955. Texas Instruments founder Eugene McDermott endowed the Margaret Milam McDermott Chair in Anesthesiology in 1966 to honor his wife, and Dr. Jenkins held the Chair for 15 years until his retirement from UT Southwestern in 1981. The Chair was later upgraded to a Distinguished Chair and is held now by Dr. Charles Whitten, Chairman of Anesthesiology and Pain Management. UT Southwestern annually recognizes a graduating student with the M.T. “Pepper” Jenkins Outstanding Medical Student Award in Anesthesiology and Pain Management.

Quotes about JFK*

“Each Friday at noon we had a death conference with case presentations by house staff and discussion by one of the staff members. Dr. Don Seldin was talking when Dr. Dan Foster came into the room – white as a sheet – and announced the president had been shot. The conference was immediately adjourned and Dr. Seldin immediately left.” – Dr. H. Wayne Smith, second-year Internal Medicine resident

“Dr. Madison and I left the [Department of Medicine] conference immediately and went down to the emergency room where there was chaos. Several Secret Service agents were moving about with machine guns in their hands. In the far end of the room was the president, who was attended by Dr. Kemp Clark, chief of neurosurgery, and Dr. Pepper Jenkins, chief of anesthesiology. Dr. Jenkins was administering oxygen while Dr. Clark, Dr. McClelland and Dr. Baxter were attending to the head wound.” – Dr. Donald Seldin, after hearing from Dr. Daniel Foster that the President and Gov. Connally were in Parkland’s emergency room

“[After Last Rites, Mrs. Kennedy] kind of stood there for a minute, and she took a ring off and put it on his finger … and then she turned and walked slowly out of the room.” – Dr. Robert McClelland

John Bowden Connally Jr.

(1917 – June 15, 1993)

The Governor of Texas arrived with President Kennedy at Parkland's emergency entrance, with bullet wounds that had pierced his chest, arm, and thigh. He was first taken into Trauma Room 2, across the hall from where the President had been carried, for immediate attention before being treated surgically in Operating Room 5.

Gov. Connally recovered – leaving Parkland by wheelchair almost two weeks later, his arm in a sling – and continued to serve the state until 1969. He was appointed U.S. Treasury Secretary in 1971, and, after switching political parties, ran for President as a Republican during the 1980 campaign.

Dr. Robert R. Shaw Professor of Thoracic SurgerySouthwestern Medical SchoolReturned to Dallas during the summer of 1963 after spending a year and a half in Kabul, Afghanistan, leading a Medico team. The 58-year-old was certified by the Board of Thoracic Surgery in 1948, and had practiced in Dallas since 1938.

Dr. Robert R. Shaw (1905-1992) arrived in Dallas to practice medicine in 1937. Dr. Shaw originally intended to become a missionary. He developed tuberculosis and, while being treated, decided to become a physician (and subsequently a medical missionary). He was attracted to thoracic surgery because at that time tuberculosis was the No. 1 killer in the world. Lung cancer was considered a rather exotic medical curiosity. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1927, received his degree from the University of Michigan School of Medicine in 1933, and completed a thoracic surgery residency at UM Medical Center in 1935. He was Dallas’ first and the state’s second thoracic surgeon. From 1937 to 1970, Dr. Shaw and Dr. Donald L. Paulson established one of the largest lung cancer surgical centers in the world in Dallas. Dr. Shaw and his wife, Ruth, went to Afghanistan with Medico many times to teach modern cardiac and thoracic surgery. They also served as consultants on Medico’s ship in Africa. During his career, Dr. Shaw initiated multiple new lung cancer procedures, but, because of his humility and giving “the credit to others,” he was never president of a major medical or surgical association.

Dr. Charles F. Gregory Professor, Chairman of Orthopedic Surgery Southwestern Medical SchoolThe 44-year-old was certified in 1953 by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. He was a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War.

Dr. Charles Gregory (1919-1976) was born in Battle Creek, Mich., and earned both his undergraduate and doctoral degrees from Indiana University School of Medicine. He was appointed Chairman of Orthopaedics at UT Southwestern Medical School in 1956. Dr. Gregory earned a reputation as an educator over years of dedication to the training of residents. According to Dr. Robert W. Jackson’s “Orthopaedic Surgery at Baylor University Medical Center,” Dr. Gregory was known for spending hours with the residents, making rounds with them late in the afternoon, then eating supper with them before teaching them into the night. Those he taught said Dr. Gregory had the ability to make them think in an orderly fashion in order to solve problems. The Dr. Charles F. Gregory Chair in Orthopaedic Surgery commemorates his service to UT Southwestern, as does the Charles F. Gregory Memorial Lecture.

Dr. George Thomas Shires Professor Chairman of the Department of Surgery Southwestern Medical School The 38-year-old was a former Navy officer, and was certified by the American Board of Surgery in 1956.

Dr. George Thomas Shires (1925-2007) was born in Waco. He graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1942 and from UT Austin two years later. He earned his degree from Southwestern Medical School in 1948 and served his residency at Parkland Memorial Hospital. In 1957 Dr. Shires joined the UT Southwestern faculty and became Chairman of Surgery in 1961 at the age of 35. At the time, his groundbreaking research on shock was on its way to becoming the impetus for the medical practice of giving saline to trauma and surgical patients, a regimen still in use today. An authority on the treatment of burns, he worked with the Dallas Fire Department to create one of the nation’s first paramedic systems. He later duplicated those efforts in New York City, organizing emergency medical services to replace a system of independent ambulances. Dr. Shires was credited with training more than 200 surgeons during his storied career.

Dr. A.H. “Buddy” Giesecke, Jr. Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology Southwestern Medical SchoolHe was 31 years old and an associate anesthesiologist at Parkland.

Dr. A.H. “Buddy” Giesecke Jr. (1932-2011) attended UT Austin and earned his medical degree from UT Medical Branch at Galveston in 1957. After military service, the Oklahoma City native began his anesthesiology residency in 1960 at Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he pursued his interest in trauma medicine. After a fellowship in anesthesiology research at UT Southwestern, he joined the faculty in 1963 and became a full professor in 1969. In 1978 Dr. Giesecke was named first holder of the M.T. “Pepper” Jenkins Professorship in Anesthesiology. He briefly left UT Southwestern in 1973 to become Professor and Director of Anesthesiology at UT Medical School at Houston, but returned to UT Southwestern a year later as Vice Chairman of Anesthesiology. In 1981 he succeeded Dr. Jenkins as Chairman, serving until 1992. Dr. Giesecke was named Professor Emeritus after retiring in 2005. His son, Dr. Noel Martin Giesecke, Professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Management, currently holds the Jenkins Professorship, endowed by the Eugene McDermott Foundation.

Quotes about Connally*

“We heard all the things. The President’s been pronounced dead. And all the other events that followed. We heard about the [police] officer [J.D. Tippit] being shot over in Oak Cliff.” – Dr. Red Duke, renowned surgeon from Houston who was on the thoracic surgery team at Parkland, about how he and others unapologetically had a radio playing in Operating Room 5

“He had a major defect in his left chest and major injury to his left lung, and I think Dr. Shaw did a magnificent job in getting him to the operating room and repairing that.” – Dr. Ronald Jones, who assisted in the Parkland ER

“Robert Shaw … recounted that in his years in the Korean War as a frontline surgeon … he had never seen so severe a chest wound. … Governor Connally recovered and hand[ed] us our diplomas [at commencement, 1964]. We all commented … how strong his grip was … in spite of having a splintered right radius from the attack.” – Leslie Moore, fourth-year medical student

Lee Harvey Oswald

(1939 – November 24, 1963)

Two days after President Kennedy and Governor Connally were shot, Mr. Oswald, the man whom Dallas police had charged with the murder of the President, was brought to Parkland with a gunshot wound to the chest. UT Southwestern physicians, including some of those who had cared for the President and the Governor, provided emergency and surgical care. Mr. Oswald, brought into the emergency room at 11:32 a.m., was in a Parkland OR by 11:42 a.m. He was pronounced dead in spite of all efforts at 1:07 p.m.

Quote about Oswald

“I thought very likely that he was probably was the one that had shot the President … But by the same token, it didn’t influence what we did. In one sense, it’s a little ironic that you go through resuscitation of somebody, knowing that if they are guilty, that they’re probably going to get a death sentence. But you would have liked to have saved Oswald because he might’ve been able to furnish you with a tremendous amount of information.” – Dr. Ronald Jones, chief surgical resident in 1963 who assisted on Nov. 22 and on Nov. 24